The Reunion
by Voldemort Willeatyou
Summary: So He shows up in her bedroom, a year after telling her he didn't love her any more, and thinks it's all ok? Bulls**t. She doesn't need Him anymore. She's got Jake. At least, that's what she's trying to convince herself. T for swearing.
1. Preface

**The Reunion (Title Pending) K+  
By Voldemort Willeatyou**

_Once upon a time, in a faraway land called Forks, there was a girl called Bella.  
__Bella had always wanted to be a princess, but her cruel stepmother made her work until her fingers bled, and she was always left behind when her stepmother went to the ball._

_Until one day, along came her prince, who fell in love with her at first sight and they married, and Bella became a princess and they all lived happily ever after._

_Makes you want to puke, doesn't it?  
__Because in real life, it never happens like that.  
__You can suffer all you like, but the happily ever after never comes._

_Once upon a time, there was a naïve girl called Bella who used to believe in happy endings and fairytales.  
__She doesn't believe in anything, anymore._

_Once upon a time, she had a prince. A perfect prince, who loved her just as much as she loved him. It was like she was living in her own little fairytale, where everything was perfect. But Princess Bella's prince left her, left her all by herself in a little town where nobody cared.  
__And she was all alone._

_But her second chance at a happy ending came, in the form of another prince, who mended her broken heart so it was all one piece again, and loved her and smiled and warmed her like the afternoon sun._

_In fairytales, there are never two choices. There's only ever one prince for every princess and one happily ever after.  
__But princess Bella's first prince came back._

_And she had to choose between the sun and the air.  
__But how could she?  
__How could she live without her sun?  
__But how could she live without the air?_

_She had plenty of time to pick her happily ever after, she thought._

_She was so fucking wrong it wasn't even funny.  
__Her time to choose had gone, and what happened next was worse than any choice she had to make, worse than any nightmare._

_Because They came, the creatures so damned and filthy evil that when it was their time to die, hell wouldn't take them and spat them straight back out into the world of the living._

_They took both her princes, and hung death over their heads like a guillotine and told her to choose._

_She wanted to die._

_She would have rather died a thousand times over than do what she had to do._

_She would've given her life for her princes, over and over and over again._

_But she couldn't._

_They wouldn't let her._

_._

_And then They made her pick which prince would die._

* * *

**_Better than the original, yes? Good. Glad you think so, too._**


	2. Him

Jake didn't know it, but I still thought about Him.

Nearly every day, little insidious tentacles, thoughts of Him, would creep through my mind, latching onto every little notion that drifted through my head.

I tried, I did, but I couldn't help it. The more I tried to not think of him, the easier it was to just _slip_ and all of a sudden I'd be struggling for breath without Him, only half a person and not even very much of that.

I was in a forest. It looked like the ones surrounding Forks and La Push, but there were no landmarks or anything familiar, identifying it as something I knew.

And I was the only living soul around. Even the trees felt oddly dead, and vague, like they were being viewed through a pyre of smoke.

Apart from that, there was nothing.

I was alone; unwanted and unloved.

There was nothing here. There never was.

And there never would be.

That was when I started screaming, waking myself out of the nightmare.

I rolled onto my stomach, muffling the screams in my pillow as they turned to sobs.

I heard His voice in my head, "Bella? Bella, what's wrong?"

Half of me revelled in the glorious sound of his voice, a beautiful harmonious melody whilst the second half was screaming at the first half to think of something, anything else.

But… I wasn't in any danger.

I was at home, in bed, sobbing into my pillow.

I heard His voice again, "Are you ok, Bella? Bella, can you hear me?"

I lifted my head from my pillow, scanning the room, my vision blurred with tears.

And there, by the window, His hands outstretched towards me, an expression of loving concern/adoration across his perfect features was Edward. Fucking. Cullen.

.

_Edward!_

Go away. I don't want to hear what you have to say.

_EDWARD!_

_Edward Anthony Mason Cullen, get up off the freaking floor and listen to me!_

Why? All that matters is what I don't have. The one thing I can't have. Her.

"Edward!" Alice cried out, a mixture of frustration and anger, aiming a kick at my side.

I lift my head from the dusty wooden floorboards to meet her eyes. Mine are black, I know it, I can feel the thirst of months clawing at the back of my throat.

"What?" It's less of a question and more of a statement, but maybe if I humoured her she'd go away.

She fixed me with her best don't-you-what?-me glare.

_You need to go back to Forks._

"No."

_Why? Why, Edward? Why do you have to make yourself, and our whole family and Bella-_

I flinched as she thought Her name. I still couldn't think of Her without the sharp shooting stabs of agony, but if Alice noticed, she didn't react.

_-hurt so much?_

"For Her. She'll have a better life without me."

_That's not true and you know it! She loved you, Edward. I wouldn't be surprised if she's gone and _died_ with grief! You were her everything._

The thought of Bella- my Bella- cold and lifeless, made me angry.

I stood up, towering over tiny Alice, shaking with violence.

"Just go, Alice."

_No._

"GO AWAY!"

The monster inside me was growing, I could feel it. I lashed out at Alice, blind with anger, striking her across the face. It was the same monster, the one who'd killed humans, slaughtered them and stolen their life, their blood, the one who'd have slaughtered Forks High for the sake of Her blood.

I could no longer tell where I stopped and He began.

She cried out and staggered backwards, caught off guard.

So tiny and small and fragile looking- she reminded me of Bella and I felt sick.

How could I? Remorse filled me, self-disgust and loathing and hate.

_Edward-_

Sometimes the truth hurts far more than the lies ever will.

_You need to go see Bella._

I'm sorry. I'm a monster, Alice. But I'm still sorry.

_It's not too late, Edward._

I'm not Edward anymore. I can feel the monster, clawing through my empty veins, taking control.

_Edward, she loves you. Listen to me, Edward._

I try to fight the monster, I really do. I force against it with all my will, but it's taking over.

_Come with me. We'll leave now, go straight to the airport, and you'll be with Bella by this time tomorrow._

It's taking over, the monster is everywhere, and Edward is nothing more than a dying spark.

_One word, Edward. Just one word._

And the spark goes out, the monster is in control. The monster smiles, showing too many teeth, and tells Alice, 'Yes. Of course I'll come.'

* * *

**So I've rewritten this chapter. Definite improvement, yes? You know the drill. Review, review, and review some more.**


	3. Leech

That weekend I went to visit Jake.  
He was waiting for me, right outside the front of his house like always, because he heard my truck from a mile off.  
He smiled a sleepy smile as I climbed out of the cabin; I wondered if I'd woken him up.

"Heya, Bella!"

He stifled a massive yawn, and grinned apologetically.

"Been patrolling all night?" I asked.

"Yup. Caught a fresh leech trail out near the east of the border."

"Oh, really?" I said, like I didn't know who it was.

"Uh-huh. It wasn't that red-head one that's been hanging around, it was different. Weird, huh? Maybe she's got some new cronies."

"Jake-"

"Yeah?"

"I know who it was."

"The leech?!"

"Yeah."

Awkward pause.

"Well?" he asked me.

And then I told him.

I told him how I'd heard His voice like I did when I was doing dangerous things, except I'd been all alone in bed, tucked in nice and safe and sound, and I'd sat up, and He was there. And how He just looked at me, like it was ok to come in through my window in the middle of the night and watch me sleep, twelve months after telling me He didn't love me and leaving me to grow old and die all by myself.

Then I told Jake how angry it had made me, how I'd have snapped His neck if I thought I had a chance, and how I'd yelled at Him to get the fuck out, and how He gave me this Look, and it broke my heart all over again, with that one stupid look, like He was completely heartbroken, and then He climbed out the window and was gone.

And Jake listened, and he hugged me when I started crying, and told me he was going to kill the bastard, and that only made me cry more, because the thought of Him getting hurt made me hurt, and the fact that it did made me hurt even more, because He'd left me and I still cared about Him, and I wish I didn't.

God, I wished so hard I could just hate Him and be done with it, that I'd be able to move on and go and love somebody else like I'd loved Him.

--

The monster ran all the way to Bella's house from the airport, leaving Alice behind with his quick running.

Her window was open, and- oh god, he could smell her blood from here, and it was so good- and he scaled her wall and was through her window just like that.

And he crept silently towards her bed, he could see her throat, deathly pale in the moonlight, and he could see her chest rising and falling in the even, deep breaths of a sleeper.

The monster was so close, he could have reached out and touched her, and I could hear what he was about to do, but I was trapped like a fly in a thick glass cup, and I couldn't escape and he leant over her, slowing down, savouring the moment, and drew back his- no, they were mine, _my_ lips, over _my_ teeth, leaning over _my_ Bella, ready to bite.

And there was nothing I could do about it.


	4. Life goes on

He said He loved me. I remember all those nights ago, and He held me tight and whispered it in my ear. That honey-coated velvet voice, like a perfect melody, a beautiful song, every time He spoke.  
Those happy, happy days, when I never thought of what lay ahead, when nothing could break my perfect bubble of glorious happiness with Him.

And then He left.  
I cried so much.  
I cried until I had no tears left, but still I wept, tearless sobs, like They did.  
The thought only made me sob harder, and some days I thought I'd die from the emptiness, and the cold sharp pain that never ceased.

Then I met Jake.  
Sometimes I wonder what would have been if Jake wasn't there. If he didn't make me smile when I thought there was nothing left, didn't tell me it would be ok, didn't heal the hole left by Him.

If he didn't save me.  
I'd be nothing more than fish-food, an empty, battered body, torn to pieces against the sharp rocks that jutted up from the base of the cliff.  
I would be no more, if Jake wasn't there.

But then He came back.  
He was there, smiling, waiting for me to run to His arms.  
There was devotion and love written all over His goddamned perfect face.  
That perfect little smile, turned up in the corner in the way that used to make me dizzy, His perfectly messy, beautiful hair, and the face of a Greek god.

He must have gotten bored again.

He thought it was _fun_, winning my heart, making me fall for it again, and He'd come back for round two.  
But I don't want to play His stupid game anymore; I don't want to be left in a torn and bloody heartbroken mess on the floor when He gets bored again, I _will not_ be fooled by the selfish, arrogant, perfect _prat_ of a pig that is Edward Cullen.

My vital organs are gone and I can't breathe, why?  
Why do I still love Him, hurt when I think His name, why does my foolish human heart refuse to let go?

I hate Him, I hate Him, I hate Him, I know I do. I _have_ to.

But I still love Him more than my own life.

--

And there was nothing I could do about it.  
His teeth were closing in around her neck- the monster paused, wondering where the blood would taste the best. He was only going to be able to do it once, after all.

But then-

Thank every single star in the whole entire sky and every form of god that may or may or may not exist, because Bella rolled over onto her back, still fast asleep, and I saw her properly for the first time in a year.  
But she looked more than a year older, deathly tired and restless, her eyes darting about underneath her eyelids. Her skin was pale, and she could have passed for a zombie, and that was what saved her life.

In the blink of an eyelid, the monster was gone, and it was just Edward, just me in my own body, and there was my Bella, and it was almost like nothing had ever come between us, except the fact she looked so tired and old and sad.

She rolled back onto her side, and then, had I not been already dead, I would've died, thanks to a heart attack.  
Bella began screaming, screaming and screaming and screaming like a banshee, and I couldn't believe no one came running, and then she must've woken herself from her dream, because she rolled onto her stomach and muffled her sobs in the pillow.

What had happened to her?  
More importantly, who?

Because I wanted to kill the bastard.

* * *

**Jeez, I wish this'd been the original chapter. Beauty of a cliffie on the end, there. And if I've learnt anything from increasingly meagre reviews, it's that cliffie = reviews.**


	5. Fly

School was the worst part of my existence.

I was like a bug on the wall, nobody noticed me, and nobody cared.

Everybody's eyes slid straight past me, like I was part of the wall behind me, the chair I sat on, the floor I stood on.

They say be careful what you wish for, because it might just come true.

I remember that first day at Forks High, wishing I could fade into the background and become invisible.

And sure enough, I got what I wished for.

The worst part, though, was 6th period biology, sitting at that table all by myself, next to the seat He used to grace with his presence, where it all began.

Sometimes I'd skip altogether, leave school after lunch and drive down to La Push, see Jake.

He'd always make me feel better, and, sometimes, I could almost pretend my heart had never been broken at all.

It was another day at school, another day of being reminded of what could've been. The bench outside where I used to sit with Them when it wasn't raining. When girls were jealous of me, Him and I. They never realised how damn lucky they were, that He had spared them his charm, falsity, and heartbreak when He became bored.

There were all the empty tables for all those empty subjects that He used to fill with what I thought was love and joy.

Now they had all lost meaning and light, and school was nothing but a habit without a point. I'd sit at the end of the table with Jessica and Lauren and all those other people whose names I'd never bothered to learn. Every day, I would have to walk straight past that table I used sit at with Them every lunch, whilst They pretended to eat, whilst His arm would wrap around my waist and He'd whispe-

The hole tore open, and I couldn't feel my lungs or heart or all those other vital organs in my chest, I was struggling for air, I was going to suffocate-

"Are you OK, Bella?" asked Angela, a look of concern on her face.

No. I'm not ok. I've lost everything I thought I had and all I ever wanted, and you ask if I'm ok.

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

*

I was angry and scared and sorry and worried, all at the same time.

"Bella? Bella, what's wrong?"

Angry for the fuckwit that made her cry like this, even in her dreams, angry at myself for not being there to stop it.  
The sobs that wracked her thin frame began to cease.

Scared if she was ok. Like always, the constant fear she's going to get hurt, trip or fall or cut herself.  
I notice she's too thin. She hasn't been eating properly.

Sorry for leaving her. So goddamned sorry, I would trade anything and everything to turn back time and never leave her.

"Are you ok, Bella? Bella, can you hear me?"

Worried for her. Terrified for her. Worried about a million little things that niggled at the back of my mind like parasites.  
She lifted her head from her pillow.

And I saw her face again. Just as beautiful, tired and tear-stained and panda-eyed and perfect.  
She stared at me. She thinks I'm not real. She's pinching herself on the inside. I'm about to say something, anything, to break the silence that's grown between us, like a thick brick wall.

And that's when it happened.

Something in her eyes changed, and then she was yelling, yelling at me to get the fuck out, to go away and never return, and it hurts, it hurts so much like nothing's ever hurt before and it's killing me on the inside and why am I not ashes on the floor because I'm burning and burning and she stops to take a breath.

And I look at her one more time, and she's so beautiful.

She'll always be the one for me.

Even if I'm not always the one for her.

So I leave.

* * *

**If you review, I'll give you a virtual marshmellow. Pink or white.**


	6. One day

The sun is obscured by thick grey clouds, just like any other day.  
It looks like it's about to rain, but it always does here. Forks is just that kind of place. The sky sort of matches my mood, cheerlessly bleak.  
It's nearly winter, and the weather is getting colder.

I hurry across the carpark to my truck, anxious in case it begins to rain again. I climb into the cabin, the engine spluttering to life after much coaxing.  
It's almost ironic that the loudest, biggest, reddest truck in the car-park belongs to the least-noticed girl in the school.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother anymore.

I glance over my shoulder, just in case the car-park is overrun with students skipping 6th period classes. It's empty, like always.  
Well, not empty, because the old, beat-up cars still fill their spots. There's Tyler's new sedan, Mike's red Toyota and then a flash of silver-

Wait.

Silver.

A silver Volvo, sitting in the car-park, its engine idling and, in the driver's seat-  
Please, please let this be my imagination.

I turn away, backing out of the spot and onto the highway in record speed.  
Like a criminal, I glance in the rear-view mirrors, to check if I'm being followed.

My heart speeds up.

The trademark silver flashes in the dim light. Only now I realise how showy his car really is, how pretentious and arrogant it seems.  
The thought of him, it's ripping my chest open, and I hate it.

I hate the fact I'm so weak without him, that every breath is such a huge fucking effort, because he's no longer by my side. I hate him, and how he stole my heart away, tore it into little pieces and tossed them casually over his shoulder.

I vow to myself, right here and now, that I will never, ever give in to him.  
He can go prey on some other poor little damsel in distress, and one day, when he comes back to me for more, he'd better watch out.

'Cos that one day, I'll be ready for him.

On that day, I'll spit at his feet, tell him just how much I hate him.

And it won't hurt a bit.

I stamp down on the accelerator, knowing very well the truck won't do above fifty.  
He'll stay on my tail, but not for long.  
Where I'm going, he's not allowed.

The borders of La Push come rushing up to meet me, and once I'm there, a huge weight seems to lift from my chest. The birds sing louder and the clouds are brighter down here, it seems.  
I can't help smiling as I pull up outside of Jake's, and, as always, he's there to greet me. Shirtless, and with a new haircut, he seems to have grown another foot or so.

But he's not smiling.

There's a grim desperado about his features, and the smile falls from my face so very quick.

"Bella," he says, "we need to talk."

--

I climb out the window and back onto the street, where everything's washed silver and grey like a dream. Not that I would know.

I wish I could dream.

I wish I could fall asleep and dream and never wake up.

* * *

**Whoa. With all this 'replace all the chapters' nonsense, turns out I'd deleted one by accident in the process. Who'd have thought?**


	7. Yes or no?

**A RATHER VITALLY IMPORTANT A/N:**

**So you may feel that this chapter looks a tad familiar. That's because it is. This is last chapter, but now it's this chapter, because I'd accidentally deleted a quite important chapter somewhere in the process of my Major Overhaul Renovation Works. That's right, folks, I've rewritten almost half of this. So if you haven't already, as of the fourteenth of October, go back and read again. There's new bits in every chapter. Mostly little bits of EPOV, but they're important.**

* * *

He takes my hand, like he always does, and leads me down to the beach.  
The silence rings in the air, louder than any noise we could have made.  
I feel uncomfortable as it begins to rain, just a fine spray of droplets falling from the sky.

It's never like this around Jake.

We go to the old bleached white tree, its limbs protruding from the earth like broken bones.  
He sits opposite me, eyes never leaving my face, and takes a deep breath.

"Bella," he says, "You- um, you know about the spring dance, right?"

I stare at him.

"Y'know, at Forks High?"

Realisation dawns. It churns up old memories I'd rather forget, of turning down Mike and Eric and Tyler, just in the hope I could go with Him. It's funny how much can change in a year.

"What about it, Jake?"

He fidgets under my gaze, looking down at his hands.

"This-girl-I-know-asked-me-to-it-but-I-want-to-go-with-you!" he blurts out, all in a single breath.

The shock came first.  
Jake was still a boy. Sure, his genes had given him the body of a man, but inside I knew he was only sixteen, innocent and untainted.

He should go with this girl of his, some pretty blonde thing with enough courage to ask him. But then-  
I don't know what I was feeling, but as I thought of Jake, _my_ Jake, dancing in the festooned gym at Forks High, that pretty blonde thing in his arms, the makings of a beast stirred in my heart, angry, green and evil.

I was _jealous_.

The thought repulsed me as much as it entranced me, that Jake, my almost-brother best-friend Jake, wanted me.  
Wanted me as more than his almost-sister best-friend.

I looked at Jake again, with fresh eyes, this time noticing the strong line of his jaw, his beautiful dark eyes and shirtless chest.

I was torn.

Jake, innocent Jake, should go with the pretty girl, someone in his year at school who would smile and flirt and whisper dirty things in his ear. But at the same time, the selfish feelings of want coursed through me, and I wanted Jake for my own, and nobody else's.  
He looked up at me, finally, a hopeful half-smile lifting the corner of his mouth.

I felt like I was balancing on the very tip of the knife-point, where the slightest gust of wind had unsettled my balance, and now I could keep my Jake or lose him forever.

In the end, it wasn't such a hard decision to make. I just smiled at Jake, as his features grew uncertain, and asked him, "Jake, wanna come with me to the dance?"

--

The monster's back by the time I reach the corner.

He crawled his way through my veins, and no matter how hard I try, I can't resist it.

He's taken over everywhere, and I'm no longer in control.

I'm a prisoner in my own body, locked up in the cage of my mind.

The monster wants Her. He wants Her so damn badly.

And he won't stop until he gets her.

* * *

**Hypothetically, if a certain author, of a certain story, didn't beg for a single review, hypothetically, of course, would the hypothetical readers of this hypothetical story be more inclined to review?**

**Oh, stuff it. Review, PLEASE!!! It makes my day and makes me want to write more. :D**


End file.
